WotW Awards Season 6: Best Dramatic Scene – Preliminary Round

That’s right, we have TWO Watchers on the Wall Award posts today! We did the funny, now we’re covering the more serious counterpart: Best Dramatic Scene.

Season 6 was a huge season for Game of Thrones, with battles, reunions, a stack of returns, piles of bodies, and by the old gods and the new, an actual resurrection. It goes without saying that drama and juicy scenes were thick on the ground this year. Our nominations for this category come from the suggestions provided by Watchers on the Wall readers so there is a wide variety to choose from, which makes it both easier and more difficult. Good luck in deciding between the options offered on this lengthy list of amazing Game of Thrones scenes!

The standard rules: Select up to FIVE nominees from the poll. You can choose fewer if you like, but you cannot choose more than 5.

At the end of 72 hours (Wednesday 8/31/16 at 4PM EDT), whichever five dramatic scenes have the most votes will continue on to the finals. The results of the poll will be revealed when it’s time to choose the winner of Best Dramatic Scene in a couple weeks.

Bran encounters the wight army in a vision- and is marked by the Night King.The trial begins, and Cersei destroys the sept of Baelor with wildfire.Euron Greyjoy is proclaimed King of the Iron Islands and baptized by drowning. For a moment there, I actually thought he was just going to drown and die.Smalljon Umber presents Ramsay with the heir to Winterfell-and Shaggydog’s head.Please no, please no, please… NOT THE WOLF!At the Tower of Joy, young Ned finds his sister Lyanna has just given birth- to Jon Snow, the cut implies.

This category reminded me how incredibly strong this season was. Even if this category was limited to the last two episodes, it would still be near impossible to narrow it down to 5.

I ultimately ended up forcing myself to focus on scenes that were made great because of the performances and writing instead of the spectacle… (Nothing against spectacle, i just needed to narrow it down somehow!)

oh my gosh, this was so hard to narrow down. I have re-watched every episode of season 6 SO many times, so I just tried to remember which scenes that I have had to rewind and watch over and over.
Jon being resurrected
Arya killing Walder Frey
Lyanna Stark at the Tower of Joy
Dany on her Dragons attacking the armada
Tyrion releasing the Dragons

My #1 choice, at least, was easy: The trial begins, and Cersei destroys the Sept of Baelor with wildfire. At the moment, with respect to both craft and execution, I consider the opening sequence of “The Winds of Winter” to be the best scene in the show’s illustrious history. Time will tell if it holds on to that title – it certainly has no shortage of great competition, and I hope that something in Season 7 or 8 will eventually surpass it. But for now, it’s safe.

After that, I might as well have been throwing darts blindfolded, only the entire target was one giant bullseye from floor to ceiling. I feel like I couldn’t miss if I tried. Ultimately, I went with:

-In the battle, Jon is nearly crushed, finds the will to live again, and breaks through in a rebirth.
-The Night King attacks the cave, Bran wargs, and Hodor holds the door.
-Jon is proclaimed King in the North.
-Jon and Sansa reunite tearfully, and catch up afterward.

A small fraction of the other scenes I considered because good God, there were too many great ones this year:

-Rickon runs, and Jon fails to save him, before facing off against Ramsay’s cavalry at the Battle of the Bastards.
-Cersei is crowned queen of the Seven Kingdoms, and Jaime sees how far she has gone.
-Daenerys burns the khals in Vaes Dothrak and emerges unburnt.
-Sansa pays Ramsay a final visit in the kennels.
-Brienne swears an oath to Sansa, and is accepted.
-Jon Snow is resurrected by Melisandre.
-Jon executes the men who killed him, and ends his watch.
-Ramsay sends Jon and Sansa a hateful Pink Letter inviting them to “come and see.”
-Sansa confronts Littlefinger in Mole’s Town.
-Jaime and Edmure’s conversation in the tent, culminating in Edmure surrendering Riverrun.
-Davos confronts Melisandre about Shireen’s death.
-At the Tower of Joy, young Ned finds his sister Lyanna has just given birth- to Jon Snow, the cut implies.
-Jon defeats Ramsay and Stark banners are raised over Winterfell once again.
-Arya taunts Walder Frey and crosses him off her list.
-In the finale, Daenerys’ armada sets sail with her dragons.

While I usually do not pick all five choices, I had to do it this time. God, this was tough…

In no particular order:
1) Sansa and Jon reunite (I still can’t stop watching this scene)
2) The Night King attacks the cave, Hodor holds the door
3) The cavalry charge in Battle of the Bastards
4) Cersei pulls Maegor the Cruel/Aerys the Mad king and blows up the sept
5) Ned finds his dying sister

If it was possible, I would choose the last two episodes in their entirety.

I think this is quite possibly the toughest category yet. In my original nominations I think I had close to twenty scenes, so cutting it down was close to impossible. My last eight or so were very Stark-centric, and somehow ended up becoming Jon-centric. I am not sure how I am going to pick a single winner when it comes to the final vote.

At the Tower of Joy, young Ned finds his sister Lyanna has just given birth – to Jon Snow, the cut implies – As a book reader who has waited a long time to see inside the room that Ned recalls smelling of blood and roses, I have to admit to internal squeals at the end of this scene. So much of what has gone before season six, and where the characters were emotionally in season six, is a result of the events of the war that essentially ended in this room with Ned’s discovery of his sister and her child. Sean Bean made Ned Stark an iconic character, and Robert Aramayo’s performance as the younger man is amazing; the connection between Ned and Lyanna in a scene that lasted less than three minutes is stunning, and the cut to Jon Snow is heartbreaking. I was instantly mentally transported back to The Kingsroad, and the moment of their parting in which Jon asks Ned about his mother for the first time; if she is alive or dead; if she knows about him; if she cares. This scene is, ultimately, the culmination of an arc that began in the first episode of the first season.

Rickon runs, and Jon fails to save him, before facing off against Ramsay’s cavalry at the Battle of the Bastards – After Jon and Sansa in episode four, and Bran and Benjen in episode six, I think that a third reunion between Jon and Rickon (and Sansa too, ultimately, I guess) was always going to be too much of a gift. But the build up of tension in this scene was amazing, and for just a moment, you do think that Rickon will make it. Until he doesn’t. And then Jon has completely fallen into Ramsay’s trap. And his stance against the horses, standing alone with his sword in hand, echoes in a way Stannis in Mother’s Mercy and Tormund in Watchers on the Wall – the idea that if he must go down, a man must go down fighting. And the scoring in this part of the scene was just stunning.

Jon executes the men who killed him, and ends his Watch – This is, I think, a scene possibly unique in GoT history, in that we see a murder victim execute his killers. The beginning of the scene, in which we see Jon sitting broodingly as he holds the blood-stained tunic he was stabbed in, through to the mic-dropping walkaway at the end of it, is beautifully shot, scored and acted. While we despise Alliser Thorne, it is clear as always that he has dedicated his life to the Watch – and that he and Jon were always going to come to this moment. They and their philosophies were on a collision course long before Alliser’s knife went anywhere near Jon’s gut. It is clear that Jon is looking for someone else to be the one to do this (given that Olly is a child) but he was raised by Ned Stark, and you can see in Jon’s eyes the moment in which he recalls the knives entering his gut and how that felt. And that is when he cuts the rope. The removal of his cloak and his decision to leave the Watch is a real turning point for Jon, and there is a real sense of bitterness in his tone and face as he walks away.

Jon reacts to his resurrection while peaking an encouraging Davos – Maybe it is the way in which we had around ten months to build up to this scene, but it just completely delivered for me. And I loved the contrast between Melisandre and Davos’s words to him. I re-watched The Children earlier on today, and it felt like this scene has been coming ever since the moment in that episode when Melisandre looked through the flames and stared Jon down. While Melisandre decided Jon’s post-resurrection trauma was the ideal time to tell him that he could be the fabled Prince that was Promised, Davos engages with Jon at a very human level, and tries to reassure him that he does have a place in the world – and can do good. But, if he fails in his attempts, then that is alright too. It is the trying that matters; the intent.

The trial begins, and Cersei destroys the Sept of Baelor with wildfire – This sequence was just stunning to watch. The acting, scoring, direction, editing, costuming………everything just worked and blended together. It is dramatic, it is heartbreaking, and it is explosive in more ways than one. From the events of the trial itself, in which we see how broken Loras is, to Margaery tearing off the mask she has worn for most of the season, to Cersei’s anticipation, to the tragedy of Tommen and his suicide, every single beat is captured exquisitely. And the moment in which the High Sparrow realizes that Cersei has beaten him and that it is too late for him to fix it, is a great counter to the scene earlier on in the season when the Tyrell armies and Jaime faced off against the High Sparrow outside the Sept of Baelor and Olenna and Jaime realize that the Sparrow has beaten them.

Honorable mention also to all things Arya and Sandor, Tyrion and the dragons, and the amazing Hold the Door sequence. It is going to be really tough to pick a single one in the final vote.

The toughest poll yet…I suggest we make a shortlist of 10 in this category. There were so many of my favorite ones and really really strong scenes that got left out…Tyiron-Danny hand of the queen moment, Danny-Jorah goodbye scene, Jon getting trampled over…

There are WAY too many options to narrow it down to five reasonably. I did my best, but I think there should be semi-final rounds for categories like this ? I’d be surprised if the top 5 all together even have anywhere near 50% of the vote.

This took forever, but I gradually managed to narrow it down. One thing I did to make it easier on myself was to disqualify all of the big, epic scenes from contention, since I think it’s kind of unfair to compare them to the smaller-scale, more intimate drama scenes–it’s like apples and oranges–and because I’ve already given some of those scenes their due with my votes in other categories.

Votes:
-Brienne and Jaime uneasily reunite outside Riverrun.
-Cersei torments Septa Unella after her wildfire victory.
-Davos confronts Melisandre about Shireen’s death.
-Euron Greyjoy is proclaimed King of the Iron Islands and baptized by drowning.
-Ramsay visits with his stepmother Walda and his new baby brother before feeding them to his dogs.

Honorable Mentions:
-Daenerys appoints Tyrion to be her Hand of the Queen.
-Jaime and Edmure’s conversation in the tent, culminating in Edmure surrendering Riverrun.

These were my choices, though it’s horrible that I had to miss so many great moments:

The Battle of the Bastards ends with the arrival of the Knights of the Vale and a triumphant Sansa Stark.
The trial begins, and Cersei destroys the sept of Baelor with wildfire.
Cersei is crowned queen of the Seven Kingdoms, and Jaime sees how far she has gone.
Jon is proclaimed King in the North.
The Night King attacks the cave, Bran wargs, and Hodor holds the door.

I think we should just give Season 6 the prize for being the best in the series and leave it at that….I voted, but it took me forever, and now I can’t remember which ones I picked, I keep changing my mind. There’s just too much awesomeness on that list to choose!

I went with the quieter heart-wrenching moments for the most part. The exception is Hodor, although the actual holding of the door was a moment of quiet heroism. Jamie and Edmure finding the common ground of love in their hatred; Jorah and Dany’s heart-wrenching farewell; Davos’ visceral anguish over Shireen; but Jon being smothered actually had me holding my breath and gasping. THAT’s drama!

Arya killing Walder Frey – perhaps it’s in best death but the fact Walder was so obsessed with everyone laughing at him, some certain people slagged the scene off but what one who thinks in terms of media studies instead of English Literature hat on realises is it is that the Frey Pie is a metaphor for how Walders obsession has ended up being the death of and consumed his once numerous family.

Secondly it is a role reversal of RW, eg WF wore the face of peace and then turned on Robb and revealed a different face, and Arya has done that here

And of course the fact Walder is obsessed with everyone laughing at him, and Arya reveals his last sight will be a Stark laughing at him etc

Arya saving Lady Crane, nicely cut “Mercy” in there, eg the “Gift” doesen’t just have to be of death, Arya can also choose to give the gift of “Mercy” so it had nice double meaning on top of alluding to the book chapter

There’s also “do you enjoy pretending to be other people?” component which has probably made her think and when she is going “back to her family” it is a matter of going back to being openly Arya Stark since the moment she killed the Stable Boy,

Welp. I agree with everyone here that this category is incredibly difficult, so much so that I felt compelled to leave out “Hold the door” mostly because A) I think it’ll get in anyway and B) it’s an almost certain winner for Hodor’s death in the Best Death category.

So then I went with:

1. The 15-minute opening of the Winds of Winter — simply the best dramatic sequence the show has ever done. It’s a masterwork, all by itself. If it wins it will be well deserved.

2. Jon & Sansa reunite – when the hell had we last had two Starks together, and not just that, but two Starks that weren’t terribly close?

3. Sansa confronts Baelish in Mole’s Town — Great acting there from Sophie Turner.

I’ll buy that notion to an extent that perhaps these – in the future – can be whittled to 10 nominees instead of five, given the huge number of possibilities. Then again, with shortened seasons coming up, that may change.

I can’t imagine what’s going to happen when we have to deal with measuring the entirety of the series.

There were absolutely loads of dramatic scenes this year Like Balor, Jons resurrection, all of the tower of joy, the battle, Sandors return,Brans flashbacks and Hodors tragic end. Some of these scenes we have been waiting to see ( or read) for many years but the scene that choked me the most was Sansa and Jons reunion in the castle black courtyard so I hope that one gets on the main shortlist

Cersei chooses violence and The Mountain is unleashed on the Faith Militant.
The trial begins, and Cersei destroys the sept of Baelor with wildfire.
Cersei torments Septa Unella after her wildfire victory.
Cersei is crowned queen of the Seven Kingdoms, and Jaime sees how far she has gone.
Write-in vote for Cersei mourning Myrcella.

The trial begins, and Cersei destroys the sept of Baelor with wildfire. This scene… I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, hoping and begging for Margaery, or someone at least, to get out of that alive, and I was utterly heartbroken when it was over. Everyone did so great in that scene. The actors were perfect. The choir was perfect (though I did not care much for the piano), the way it was framed, shot, lit, the costumes… everything about that scene was phenomenal and I still feel it tug at my heartstrings every time I watch it again. Hands down the best dramatic scene this season.

Close second would be Tyrion freeing Rhaegal and Viseryon, but I’m saving that one for best special effects scene 🙂

That was too hard! Ultimately, it doesn’t matter though because provided R+L=J reveal makes it to the final, that’s gonna be my choice. There are so many great dramatic moments but that’s the one most fans have been waiting for all these years and it was executed so well.

Like most of you, I found the decision process a bit daunting. I ultimately went with scenes that not only were amazing with the cinematography but also ones that I thought were huge in progressing main characters arc’s. So for me the top 5 are..

1. The Cept being blown to sky high. Who wouldn’t love that scene? It was just so effing amazing!!
2. Jon Being rezed (Com’on… seriously we were all waiting for this moment since last season- if you were like me you were screaming at your TV screen for the few seconds we were anticipating whether the rez really worked or not)
3. Jon being proclaimed KITN (how appropriate the initials sound like “kitten” meow he’s so damn hot)
4. Hodor holding the DAMN DOOR… (still miss you HODOR) If this isn’t in your top 5 your smoking crack! JUST such an epic moment and NO one saw it coming!!
5. Jon finally being shown that he’s NOT Ned’s son and the TRUE PTWP. For me this is most pinnacle moment since the show began. The WHOLE series is based off who is going to be the TRUE PTWP and why would GRRM try to keep this a secret for all of these years if JS is NOT going to be the next ruler of Westeros?

Well I know that it was excruciating difficult for me to whittle it down to just 5. Kudos to WOTW for a great list and for once again helping our minds stay calm during the off season. I am thoroughly enjoying these polls. Keep up the great work!!

I chose Jon being resurrected and Sansa and Theon escaping because those events were the resolution of a whole off-season of uncertainty. I needed to know fast that Sansa was ok, and I needed to see Jon take those breaths. Once those two things happened, the season was off to a ripping start for me. They were very satisfying events on which to build the rest of the season.

I chose the burning Sept because it was an amazingly entertaining sequence, even as gruesome as it turned out to be, and it effectively cleared the stage for all the Kings Landing action in the coming season.

I chose Sansa confronting Littlefinger because that’s when you first truly know that Sansa has shed her little girl ways, and is on her way to womanhood. And I loved just that hint of uncertainty in Littlefinger’s manner. I think it’s the first time we see him the least bit vulnerable. LF doesn’t like to be made to feel vulnerable. I think some dire consequences will come from Sansa’s stab at freedom from him.

Finally, Arya proclaiming herself to BE Arya Stark of Winterfell. That brings her home.

Ye gods, this was hard. There was barely a lame moment in any episode, every scene had its merits, even the stupid Tyrion telling jokes scene had that lovely moment when Grey Worm smiled so lovingly at a giggling Missandei. But runners-up would be Dany telling the Khals how things were going to be; Dany on Drogo with the other two close by. burning the ships; Dany making Tyrion hand of the Queen; the scene of the fleet heading for Westeros, Davos confronting Melisandre (which puts her in motion, so that she can show up elsewhere in Westeros, maybe running into Arya. Maybe they’ll run into each other while they are both in disguise-mode: Arya with someone else’s face and Mel as the old woman.) Young Ned finds a near-dead Lyanna and makes a promise.

Davos confronting Melisandre – Liam Cunningham is a Rockstar and proves, time and again, he is the best actor on this show.Hold. The. Door. – DAMN! As satisfying as the BotB was, this whole sequence was the best moment of the season for me.Arya kills Walder Frey – Too many years in the making but so worth the wait!The Sept goes boom! – The entire scene at the Sept pre-explosion had killer tension. Natalie, Jonathan, Roger, Finn….everyone was perfection.The Knights of the Vale cap a perfect battle sequence – With Sansa and Littlefinger sitting on the horses. LOVED that their expressions mirrored each other.

When the R+L=J moment was revealed and the camera faded onto Jon’s face prior to that glorious King of the North crowning, it felt like an accumulation for 6 seasons worth of build up have finally paid off. Still gives me chills thinking about it.

Only 5 choices??!! This is ridiculous. The list is unmanageably long. Once you get to the end you have run out of choices so you have to go back and forth on this unbearably long list.

I refuse to vote under this system!! (I’m kidding, I just submitted my vote. I love this things! but last year I had the same impression that particularly the dramatic scenes lists is very long long in a show that is, dark, dramatic, painful.. maybe for next year we can think of an improved system?

Suggestions: either pick 10 from all the list or select 2 or 3 scenes from each setting (The North, Mereen and surroundings, KL, Others (Riverrun, Dorne, etc). Anyway, to the final vote only the top 5 vote-getters will be submitted… pretty please?